A decade after that letter, the former archbishop of New York,
and former bishop of Bridgeport,
now describes the handling of the priest-abuse crisis under
his watch as “incredibly good.” He said of the letter,
"I never should have said that,” and added, “I don’t think we did
anything wrong.”

“I never had one of these sex abuse cases.” he said, before
adding pompously, “If you have another bishop in the United
States who has the record I have, I’d be happy to know who he
is.” He also claimed that the Church had no obligation to report
abuse to the civil authorities.

These are lies, strutting around with pride.

The Church is required to report abuse, according to laws
on the books since the 1970s.

Bishop Egan ran a diocese that was notoriously dangerous for
children. Contrary to his claim, during his twelve-year
enthronement at Bridgeport, Egan repeatedly failed
to investigate priests where there were obvious signs of
abuse, according to The Hartford Courant. His diocese had to
settle the cases and awarded victims some $12-15 million in
damages.

Here is just one incredible case of negligence. According
to the Hartford Courant, in 1990, Egan received a memo
about "a developing pattern of accusations” that Rev.
Charles Carr of Norwalk had fondled young boys. Egan kept Carr
working for another five years, only suspending him after a
lawsuit was filed, and then in 1999 making him a chaplain at
Danbury's hospital.

How about another? The Connecticut Post also
reported that early in his reign, dozens of people
came forward to accuse Rev. Raymond Pcolka of Greenwich of sexual
abuse and violence against children. Egan claimed that the
accusers were never "proved" to be telling the truth. Well, Egan
never even bothered to interview them and kept Pcolka in
ministry.

And, speaking as a Catholic, who lived in the New York
Archdiocese under Cardinal Egan's reign, I can say Egan did
punish some priests. But not child-abusers. He swiftly punished
and evicted those Catholic priests that said the Traditional
Latin Mass (later liberalized by Pope Benedict XVI), if he
thought they didn't pay him sufficient deference.

In short: Egan coddled child-abusers, and persecuted decent
priests during his ignominious reign as a Prince of the Church.
His entire interview reeks of a narcissism and self-regard that
is so palpable it makes your eyes water.

Again, speaking as a Catholic, God is merciful with those who
repent and do penance.